


paper mache trees, a fountain, and a nightmare

by Crazy4abby



Series: Dream SMP/SBI/Other Stuff Related [8]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: (i hope that is the right date), Feelings of Helplessness, Interpretation, Partial amnesia, Time Travel, based on the Haunted Mansion stream, no beta we die like wilbur soot in skyblockle, the March 5th one, the in between
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:41:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29890248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazy4abby/pseuds/Crazy4abby
Summary: Karl has been here before- he knows that, and yet, he never has been. He has sat here on this bench- can remember sitting there, and yet, he has never even seen this bench before.--my interpretation of the In-Between scene of the Haunted Mansion tale
Relationships: mentioned Karl Jacobs/Sapnap/Quackity
Series: Dream SMP/SBI/Other Stuff Related [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2083617
Kudos: 13





	paper mache trees, a fountain, and a nightmare

Karl wakes up in a white castle. It’s a dreamy castle, has a certain charm to it. He feels deja vu bubble up in his chest. In front of him, on a pedestal, is a wither rose. They aren’t common, he knows, but this place seems to have an abundance of them. 

Offhandedly, he wonders if they have some sort of wither farm if that’s even possible to make. He wouldn’t know, doesn’t even know where he is. He picks the leather-bound book off of the small shelf on the side of the pedestal. It’s five pages long. 

He doesn’t bother reading it thoroughly- just skims it. 

This place is supposed to be safe, the book reads. It tells him to explore. The book tells him that he is safe here, and yet Karl still has a sinking feeling in his gut, screaming danger at him. He continues walking, continues exploring like he had never been here before-

He hasn’t been here before- and yet he has.  _ He knows he has _ , and yet he can’t remember it. 

He remembers sitting on that bench and admiring the paper mache trees that hang over the courtyards, but he doesn’t. Karl takes a deep breath and reminds himself that he is alone. He has no need to justify himself to no one.

But he doesn’t feel alone. Somewhere deep inside him, he knows that he isn’t truly alone, not  _ here _ . 

Karl finds himself in a bedroom. It’s the first that he’s found so far. Some books decorate a wall and a desk is pushed up against it with a bed opposite it. He finds another pillar, another wither rose, another shelf, and another book. 

This bedroom is used by all different Karls, the book tells him. Karls from the past, from the future, from the  _ present _ . Karl blankly gazes at the bed and ignores the way his heart pounds at the lump in the sheets. He blinks and the lump was gone. The sheets are undisturbed. 

Karl decides he isn’t tired- not yet. He’d rather cuddle with- He’d rather cuddle with his- his fiances. Right. He’d rather cuddle up in his bed at home with Jam-  _ Sapnap,  _ and Quackity. He doesn’t know why his mouth feels so dry or why he almost forgot his fiances but he pushes it to the back burner so he can focus on the  _ now _ . 

(he forgets to focus on that fact later, but he doesn’t know that)

Instead, Karl climbs the stairs further and finds another book. It’s… different, from the others. It has no podium, and it’s dusty, and it’s dirty from being tucked behind a house plant. It has “??????” carved into the leather cover. He opens the delicate pages and reads through them. The first page reads like this:

“FIND A WAY INTO THE PORTAL.” and the last page reads: “IT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU KNOW.”

… The rest of the pages in between them are empty. Karl doesn’t take note. The pit in his stomach sinks further. He puts the book back and continues on his way. He hops up the steps and walks through more endless rooms, and eventually, he comes across a room with a portal. It’s behind bars.

In front of the locked portal is a book with a wither rose and a pedestal and a shelf. It reads as follows:

“DONT STRAY FROM THE PATH DONT STRAY FROM THE PATH DONT STRAY FROM THE PATH DONT STRAY FROM THE PATH DONT STRAY FROM THE PATH DONT STRAY FROM THE PATH DONT STRAY FROM THE PATH DONT STRAY FROM THE PATH” and continues on for the rest of the page. Karl throws the book back on the shelf like it burnt him and takes a deep breath and shudders violently. 

Karl moves up and rests his hands on the cage trapping the portal. He wonders what is in it. 

… he moves on, and he ignores the longing he feels- the need to enter that portal. He leaves the portal room instead, and finds another book, also on a pedestal… It’s a copy of the book from when he arrived, but it has smiley faces on it- not the ones that remind him of- of  _ Dream _ . He peaks over the edge to see a courtyard, with small people running around it from his distance.

He doesn’t notice that they are all  _ him _ . He walks for a short while and back down the stairs. He finds another dusty book under the staircase, with another “ _????? _ ” carved into the leather. 

“GO UNDER THE TREE,” it reads, “YOU CANT AFFORD NOT TO.” Karl wonders which tree it’s talking about, and he continues across a bridge into a tower. He climbs down the ladder, and spies another book, hidden under a ledge. It’s dusty with a “ _????? _ ” carved into the leather. It feels familiar like he’s read it before. 

He opens the book to the first page: “GO UNDER THE TREE.” It says on the first page. “YOU CANT AFFORD NOT TO,” it reads on the last. The rest of the pages are empty. He wonders what tree it’s talking about, and he puts the book back. He continues on his way. He goes down the stairs into a courtyard. He walks through an archway, and he finds a paper mache tree. It’s large, and he spies an opening below it. 

Curiously, he swims to it. Below the tree, is a pedestal with a wither rose on top and a shelf with a dusty book. It has “ _????? _ ” carved into the leather. This one is not as familiar as the other book. 

“THANK GOD YOU FOUND IT. IT CANT SEE YOU DOWN HERE.”  _ it? _ What is  _ it _ ? Karl puts the dusty book back down and climbs the ladder. In the upper room, is another book, this time on the floor. 

“DONT TRUST THE CASTLE. IT ISNT WHAT IT SEEMS. YOU DONT WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT THOSE OTHER FORMS OF YOU. THIS PLACE IS NOT OK. FIND A WAY INTO THE PORTAL.” The sinking feeling in his gut grows. He leaves the chamber under the tree and swims up. He climbs out of the pool of water surrounding the tree, and his blood turns ice cold. His heart stops in his chest.

Waiting for him, silently yet menacingly, is a row of pedestals and books and wither roses and his breath catches in his throat. He feels chewed out like he was caught stealing a cookie from his mother’s last attempt at baking. He flips through the pages of each book and they all say the same thing:

“JUST STICK TO THE PATH” repeated over and over until the page ended. He puts the books back on the shelves, and he spies one last book. One last wither rose, one last pedestal, one last book. He opens it to the first page, and then to the next, and the page after.

The words tell him that the In-Between is a paradise, but the sinking feeling in his gut that hasn’t left him since he arrived tell him otherwise. For once, Karl looks past the beauty of the castle for its true form: a nightmare. This is not a dream- it is a full-blown nightmare. 

The In-Between forces him out just as the paper mache trees and buildings and walkways  _ crumble _ and he panics for a second before he gives in to the alluring dark and deep slumber the In-Between has forced him into.

(the In-Between will wait before sending Karl on his next journey- his realization has crumbled the foundation and it needs to rebuild-  _ if only it could find the hidden books _ )

[the In-Between would love to destroy that horrid portal, but the portal stands firm in its position, a beacon of hope for Karl to find and rely on]


End file.
